Published: Friday, December 28, 2012 at 04:53 PM.

BELLEMONT — Business was booming Thursday at Handgunners Inc. on N.C. 49 south of Burlington.

At mid-afternoon, at least a dozen customers crowded the shop — perusing new and used firearms or waiting for their chance to hone their skills in one of the facility’s 10 firing lanes. The shop’s entourage included both men and women as well as children in their parents’ tow.

An electronic lock on the door assured no one entered who wasn’t supposed to be there. On the walls, movie posters illustrated the nation’s long association with firearms. A poster advertising “Tombstone” depicted Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday strolling toward the O.K. Corral for a shootout that remains a part of Western lore.

Business at Handgunners, said Mike Hinshaw, the owner, is always brisk, and has been especially so since deadly school shootings at an elementary school in Connecticut in early December. The shootings in some quarters resulted in renewed cries for gun control — especially a crackdown on the availability of automatic weapons blamed for the massacre of 26 elementary school children and educators.

What’s going to become of it all? No one is sure, Hinshaw said, which leaves people looking to stock up on guns and ammo.

“I deal with people who want to protect themselves,” Hinshaw said. “There’s a lot of feelings floating around out there, a lot of worries.”

He said the reason for the increase in sales of guns and ammunition is twofold — a sense among many the killings in Connecticut will prompt government intervention in gun sales and a desire by some to arm themselves before restrictions are put into place.

BELLEMONT — Business was booming Thursday at Handgunners Inc. on N.C. 49 south of Burlington.

At mid-afternoon, at least a dozen customers crowded the shop — perusing new and used firearms or waiting for their chance to hone their skills in one of the facility’s 10 firing lanes. The shop’s entourage included both men and women as well as children in their parents’ tow.

An electronic lock on the door assured no one entered who wasn’t supposed to be there. On the walls, movie posters illustrated the nation’s long association with firearms. A poster advertising “Tombstone” depicted Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday strolling toward the O.K. Corral for a shootout that remains a part of Western lore.

Business at Handgunners, said Mike Hinshaw, the owner, is always brisk, and has been especially so since deadly school shootings at an elementary school in Connecticut in early December. The shootings in some quarters resulted in renewed cries for gun control — especially a crackdown on the availability of automatic weapons blamed for the massacre of 26 elementary school children and educators.

What’s going to become of it all? No one is sure, Hinshaw said, which leaves people looking to stock up on guns and ammo.

“I deal with people who want to protect themselves,” Hinshaw said. “There’s a lot of feelings floating around out there, a lot of worries.”

He said the reason for the increase in sales of guns and ammunition is twofold — a sense among many the killings in Connecticut will prompt government intervention in gun sales and a desire by some to arm themselves before restrictions are put into place.

Hinshaw said Handgunners sold out of automatic weapons in a single day when rumor spread there might be a crackdown on such weapons. He said he wasn’t sure of exactly how many automatic weapons he had on hand before the rush, but “it was a sizeable number.” Ammunition also flew out of the shop.

Hinshaw and his wife founded Handgunners in April 1994. Hinshaw is a former law enforcement officer who prides himself on his marksmanship. He’s won numerous shooting competitions.

Gun and ammunition sales are only a part of his business. Hinshaw offers introductory classes in gun ownership and shooting, and serves as a coach to those looking to become better marksmen.

His classes in basic gun ownership, Hinshaw said, are filled through February. “With people who’ve never owned a gun before,” he said.

The issue of gun control is a tricky one, admitted Hinshaw, who said he feels existing laws are adequate. If you don’t agree with him, Hinshaw doesn’t mind. You’re no more likely to change his mind than he is to change yours.

Of further restrictions on guns, Hinshaw said, “I just don’t see where they’re going to do any good.”

He said his former comrades in law enforcement agree. “They think there are enough laws — they’re just not properly enforced,” Hinshaw said.

As an example, he referred to the shooting in New York state a couple of weeks ago where firefighters responding to a fire were targeted by a man who’d set the blaze — shooting a weapon similar to the one used in the Connecticut school shootings. The New York shooter had served 18 years in prison for murdering his mother with a hammer in the early 1980s.

“Why was that man not on death row?” Hinshaw asked.

He noted the man had no trouble finding a hammer to use to kill his mother. Killers, Hinshaw said, are going to find something with which to kill.

A gun, he said, is a tool, and any tool improperly used is dangerous.

“Additional gun laws only affect law-abiding citizens,” Hinshaw said. “We must address the real problems. We need to punish criminals. We need to get back to the days when we held people accountable.”

Hinshaw said individuals as young as 18 can buy weapons as powerful as assault rifles. A person must be 21 before purchasing a handgun. Hinshaw said background checks are required of anyone to whom he sells a gun, though he admitted such checks only tell so much.

Unless an individual has been convicted of a felony or serious misdemeanor, he’ll probably get the green light to purchase a gun. The checks, Hinshaw said, reveal little about an individual’s mental stability.

But of those who have come into his shop since the latest uptick in business, Hinshaw said he’s had no concerns.

“They’re just good, honest people gearing up in case something happens,” he said.

ROBERT GOINS HASbeen in business at Acme Bullet Co. on East Harden Street in Graham only four months. He sells guns and ammunition and plans to soon begin producing bullets for resale.

Already, Goins said, he’s seen two upswings in business. The first, he said, followed the reelection of President Obama in November. The second, he said, came after the “unfortunate events” of earlier this month — the mass killings in Connecticut and New York.

Goins said he’s not licensed to sell automatic weapons, but said he saw an increase in sales of semi-automatics — those able to fire between 20 and 30 rounds before reloading – in recent weeks. Such guns are difficult to come by these days, Goins said, as is ammunition. Even bullets as small as .22-caliber are in short supply as gun owners stockpile before a possible cutback.

Both Goins and Hinshaw said any threats to liberties should be fought, that countries liberated by the United States have almost always stripped their residents of the right to bear arms.